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The Indianapolis Colts are coming off of a 2018 campaign in which they won 10 games in spite of a miserable 1-5 start, sneaking into the playoffs after emerging victorious in a winner-take-all game against the Tennessee Titans in Week 17 and then upsetting the Houston Texans in the Wild Card Round before falling to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional Round the following week.
While the Colts looked terrific in beating the Texans and were becoming a trendy pick to make it all the way to the Super Bowl, it was obvious against the Chiefs that they still had work to do.
Well, Indianapolis got to work this offseason, bolstering both sides of the ball by adding players such as wide receiver Devin Funchess and pass rusher Justin Houston. Couple that with the fact that the team's young players should be improved, and you unquestionably have a Super Bowl contender on your hands.
But how should we measure the Colts in 2019? Should anything short of a Super Bowl run be deemed a failure?
For starters, we have to examine how Indianapolis has performed since Andrew Luck took over as the starting quarterback in 2012. The Colts made the playoffs in each of Luck's first three seasons, and each year, they got better and better.
First, they lost in the Wild Card Round. Then, they lost in the Divisional Round. Finally, they fell to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game during the 2014-15 campaign.
After that season, however, Indy went into a bit of a drought, missing the playoffs three years in a row. Albeit, Luck missed all of 2017 while recovering from shoulder surgery, but the Colts won just eight games in both 2015 and 2016.
Now, expectations have returned in Indianapolis, but in an incredibly deep AFC that boasts the Patriots, Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers, among several other dangerous clubs, a Super Bowl run will be tough for anyone in the conference.
We do need to keep in mind, however, that at some point, Luck needs to get over the hump. He is 29 years old now, meaning he has plenty of experience under his belt. His playoff track record also isn't the best, which is something that doesn't actually get talked about very often.
Based on that, we can't keep punting to the future for the Colts. The time is now for Luck and Co., and going into 2019, Luck finally has numerous reliable weapons, whether that's T.Y. Hilton or massive target Funchess at wide receiver, Indy's fearsome tight end duo of Jack Doyle and Eric Ebron or under-the-radar running back Marlon Mack, who opened up plenty of eyes late this past year.
Indianapolis is also improved defensively. Great? Hardly, but still better than 2018, and the Colts should absolutely be better defensively than the same Chiefs team that throttled them seven months ago.
Essentially, the Colts have the tools to make a Super Bowl run this year, so why wait? The expectations for Indianapolis are very real going into 2019, and they are very legitimate.
This Indy squad definitely has a chance to make a deep playoff run, and if Luck truly wants to be an all-time great quarterback, he is going to have to prove himself in the postseason sooner rather than later.
So, while getting to the AFC Championship Game would certainly be nice, it wouldn't be new territory; the Colts have been there before, and making it just one round further than the previous year wouldn't necessarily be a huge accomplishment, particularly given the fact that Indianapolis is expected to be a better team top to bottom.
When you have the talent to win a Super Bowl and are being considered a contender by most, the season immediately becomes championship or bust, and that is where the Colts find themselves in 2019.
